Genealogists, take heart: You can have it all

Friday

Apr 27, 2012 at 12:01 AMApr 27, 2012 at 2:39 PM

The landmarks of life -- births, marriages, divorces and deaths -- are of obvious importance to genealogists.

Amid growing interest in filling out the branches of family trees, some researchers are upset with recent changes in the search functions of vital-statistics computers made available to the public at the Ohio Department of Health.

They complain it is harder to find people in the state databases without exact names and dates, which often aren't available to those hunting for the missing links of family ancestry.

But, there is a simple and cheap solution available to geneaologists and any others with an interest in such public records.

One can obtain copies of the computerized databases to massage the information and rummage for information in searches under user-set parameters.

While apparently not well known to the public, or some genealogists, a public records request to the vital statistics section of the state health department will yield a wealth of information burned to CDs, which could be free or no more than $1 each depending on the scope of the request.

The databases, which we have obtained and used for years at The Dispatch, contain births since 1908, deaths since 1954, marriages since 1970 and divorces since 1967.

It's the easy out, because the health department is authorized to charge $3 (for each 10 years searched) when its employees search for information without needed information such as a date.

The vital-statistics databases "are available to the public and we are happy to assist in accessing these records," said Robert Jennings, the chief of public affairs for the Ohio Department of Health.

The landmarks of life -- births, marriages, divorces and deaths -- are of obvious importance to genealogists.

Amid growing interest in filling out the branches of family trees, some researchers are upset with recent changes in the search functions of vital-statistics computers made available to the public at the Ohio Department of Health.

They complain it is harder to find people in the state databases without exact names and dates, which often aren't available to those hunting for the missing links of family ancestry.

But, there is a simple and cheap solution available to genealogists and any others with an interest in such public records.

One can obtain copies of the computerized databases to massage the information and rummage for information in searches under user-set parameters.

While apparently not well known to the public, or some genealogists, a public records request to the vital statistics section of the state health department will yield a wealth of information burned to CDs, which could be free or no more than $1 each depending on the scope of the request.

The databases, which we have obtained and used for years at The Dispatch, contain births since 1908, deaths since 1954, marriages since 1970 and divorces since 1967.

It's the easy out, because the health department is authorized to charge $3 (for each 10 years searched) when its employees search for information without needed information such as a date.

The vital-statistics databases "are available to the public and we are happy to assist in accessing these records," said Robert Jennings, the chief of public affairs for the Ohio Department of Health.